Switch-stand.



No. 846,063. PATENTBD MAR. 5, 1907.

F. W. SNOW.

SWITCH STAND.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.10, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

w vtmeooeo F. W. snow. SWITCH STAND.

PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907 APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES FRED WILLIAM SN OIV, OF

OF NEW JERSEY.

OFFICE HILLBURN, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO STANDARD EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF MAI-IWAI-I, NEW

JERSEY, A CORPORATION SWITCH-STAND.

Specification of Letterslatent Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed November 10, 1906. Serial No. 342,810.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, FRED WILLIAM SNow, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of I-Iillburn, in the county of Rockland, in the j State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switch- Stands, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

In automatic switch-stands which are designed to be operated from the switch itself by the passage of a train therethrough it is desirable that the friction between the parts be reduced to a minimum, so as to prevent sticking, which might result in the partial operation of the stand and the leaving of the switch in an intermediate position, and as well to prevent excessive wear upon the any disturbance of parts. At the same time the mechanism must be such as to hold the switch firmly in either of its limiting positions and to prevent the switch in either of these positions except through excessive force, such as that produced by the flange of a car-wheel passing between a rail and the switch-tongue adjacent thereto. To give both of these considerations due weight in the production of switch-stands has been no easy task, and it is the object of this invention to provide a structure in which both of these considerations find embodiment.

The invention will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which igure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in central section, of a switch-stand embodying the invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same on a plane indicated by the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

The switch-stand chosen for illustration is conventional in many respects, having a suitable base or frame a, in which suitable means are provided, such as the shaft 6, for operative connection with the switch proper, which is not illustrated. The upper portion of the shaft 7) may be made square to receive a square sleeve 0, around'which a collar (Z fits, so as to have vertical motion with respect to the sleeve. A handle 6 may be provided to turn the shaft 6, and thereby turn the switch, the connections between the switch and the shaft 6 being preferably such as will move l to the other of ing the shaft 6 through a quarter of a revolution. In this way the yardman may operate the switch at pleasure. Normally, however, the switch is held firmly in one of its limiting positions by means of mechanism presently to be described, the collar d being squared on its lower end to engage a correspondinglysquared portion of said mechanism, and therefore before the shaft I) can be turned by the yardman the collar d must be raised from engagement with said mechanism.

The handle 6, which may be bifurcated and secured to the sleeve c by means of a bolt f, is provided for this purpose with depending links h, which are secured to the collar d and serve to withdraw the same from its engagement with the other mechanism referred to upon the raising of said levere. The latter is normally held fastened down by means of any suitable device, such as a projection i, through which a suitable padlock may be passed. In this position the squared portion of the collard engages a correspondinglyrecessed portion of a block 7c, provided upon the lower end of the shaft 1) and being rota table in the frame a of the switch-stand. This block 7c constitutes a part of the mechanism for normally holding the rotatable shaft 6, and therefore the switch, in a stationary positionthat is, in one of itslimiting positionsand for permitting the same to be moved automatically by the application of excessive force upon the switch or switchtongue. This mechanism includes a suitable member or projection it, formed upon a bar Z and adapted to press against the block 76 to hold the same stationary until excessive 'orce is applied to turn the shaft 1). The bar is movably mounted in the frame a of the stand, and springs it, also mounted in said frame, cooperate to hold the projection u on the bar Z firmly against the block 76. The block 76 is provided with recesses o, in which the projection u is adapted substantially to fit when the block is in such a position as to bring the switch or switch-tongue into one of its limiting positions, there being preferably four of such recesses which are separated by projections w on the block substantially ninety degrees apart. Each of the projections to is provided with a roller 00 or other r0- tatable member in order to reduce friction its limiting ism shown and described herein for realizing the same.

I claim as my invention 1. In a switch-stand, the combination of connecting means for operatively connecting j a switch thereto, resisting means to oppose 5 the movement of the connecting means, and and the two rollers, which are then situated friction-reducing means embracing the resistone on each side of the projection, may also j ing means. be said to embrace said projection. j 2. In a switch-stand, the combination of In operation the switch-stand is located rotatable means, connecting means for operbeside the switch in the usual manner and, atively connecting the rotating means with as was pointed out hereinbefore, the yarr the switch, resisting means to oppose the roman may operate the same at will by raising i, tation of the rotating means, means upon the the handle 0 to disengage the collar cl from the rotating means embracing the resisting block 7c. WVhen, however, the handle a is 3 means and includingfriction-reducing means. locked by means of its engagement with the 3. In a switch-stand, the combination of a projection i, the shaft 1) can only be rotated j rotatable shaft, a bar having a projection to when the shaft rotates. These rollers are suitably mounted in the projections, there being four of such rollers to correspond with the number of projections. When the switch or switch-tongue is in one of its limiting positions, the block is embraces the pro jection it upon the shaft Z, as will be obvious,

with the block 7c. This will be effected when i resist the rotation of the shaft, and means on sufficient force is imparted to the switchthe shaft embracing the projection and cotongue, as by a train passing over the switch operating with the projection to resist the in the right direction so that the flanges upon rotation of the shaft and to reduce friction the car-wheels will pass between the switchj when the shaft rotates. tongue and its adjacent rail. Before the j 4-. Inaswitch-stand, the combination ofa train passes over the switch the mechanism j rotatable shaft, a projection to resist the reis in its normal position. (Indicated in Fig. tation of the shaft, and means on the shaft 2.) When the excessive force is imparted to embracing the projection and including fricthe switch-tongue and from the switchtion-reducing members on each side of the tongue through the shaft to the block 70, the projection. shaft and block will be rotated. hen this 5. In a switch-stand, the combination of a takes place, as is obvious, one of the rollers j rotatable shaft, and means to oppose the roon the corresponding projection w will be j tation of the shaft including a bar having a moved across the surface of the projection '11, j projection, means embracing the projection upon the'bar Z, thus moving the bar away j and rollers mounted upon the last-named from the shaft, as will be clear, against the j means on each side of the projection. action of the springs 01. i 6. In a switch-stand, the combination of a It will be clear that the projection a, emj rotatable shaft, a block upon said shaft, a

braced, as it always is in its normal posij spring-actuated projection cooperating the tion, by the block la and by two of the rollers said block to resist the rotation of the shaft, thereon, will tend to hold the shaft 7), to gether with the switch, securely in their proper positions and will prevent the same from being turned, moved, rotated, or otherwise disturbed except through the application of excessive force, and it will also be clear that when such force is applied to op erate the stand automatically the parts will move upon each other without excessive friction and the disadvantageous consequences j which result therefrom. Modifications in the construction and op- 1 eration of the parts may be made without j departing from the spirit of the invention, which is therefore not limited to the mechanand rollers upon the block upon each side of the projection.

7 In a switch-stand, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a spring-actuated projection, a block having four recesses and four projections, and a roller upon the block at each projection, each recess being adapted to fit substantially the projection. V

This specification signed and witnessed. this 23d day of October, A. D. 1906.

FRED WILLIAM SNOIV.

In presence of ALFRED WV. KIDDLE, JULIUS E. VARNEY. 

